NASHVILLE, Tenn. — United Methodist Church leaders from around the world revealed a plan Friday for a new conservative denomination that would split from the church in an attempt to resolve a decades-long dispute over gay marriage and gay clergy.

The proposal, called “A Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation,” envisions an amicable separation in which conservative churches forming a new denomination would retain their assets. The new denomination also would receive $25 million.

The proposal was signed in December by a 16-member panel that worked with a mediator. The panel was formed after it became clear the impasse over LGBTQ issues was irreconcilable. The next step could come at the church’s General Conference in May.

Methodist Bishop Karen Oliveto, the denomination’s first openly gay bishop, said the United Methodist Church leadership “was clearly at a point in which we couldn’t agree to disagree” over same-sex relationships. “I’m actually really sad that we couldn’t build a bridge that could have provided a witness to the world of what unity amid diversity and disagreement could look like.” Oliveto was challenged by the denomination’s highest court, the Judicial Council, in 2017 when it declared that the bishop’s consecration “was incompatible with church law.” Oliveto remained as the resident bishop of churches in Colorado, Montana, Utah, Wyoming and a section of Idaho.

Members of the 13-million-person denomination have been at odds for years over the issue. Last year delegates voted 438-384 for a proposal called the Traditional Plan, which affirmed bans on LGBTQ-inclusive practices. A majority of U.S.-based delegates opposed that plan but were outvoted by U.S. conservatives and delegates from Africa and the Philippines.